Chapter Questions
What is the formal, scientific name for the vascular plants?
Name the major apomorphies of the vascular plants.
What two features of the sporophyte are apomorphic for vascular plants, distinguishing them from liverworts, mosses, and hornworts?
What are two early evolving branching patterns in the vascular plants?
How was the evolution of lignin a major adaptive feature of the vascular plants?
What is the difference between a primary and secondary cell wall in terms of time of deposition and chemistry?
What is a pit? What is a primary pit field?
Is the secondary cell wall formed inside or outside the plasma membrane? Is it formed inside or outside the primary cell wall?
What are the general characteristics of sclerenchyma cells?
Name the two types of sclerenchyma and state how they differ.
What is the function and structure of tracheary elements?
What is xylem?
Name the two types of tracheary elements and cite how they differ structurally.
In what taxa are vessels found?
What is the function and structure of sieve elements?
What is phloem?
What is a sieve area and what compound is associated with them?
What is the difference, in morphology and taxonomic group where found, between a sieve cell and a sieve tube member?
What is the endodermis and Casparian strip, and what is the function of each?
What is the function of roots?
What is the name of the region of actively dividing cells in the root?
Name five diagnostic features of roots and their function, if known.
What are mycorrhizae and what is their function in vascular plants?
What are the characteristics of the rhyniophytes in terms of sporophyte morphology and stem anatomy?
Name and give the features of a (paraphyletic) fossil group that diverged along the immediate lineage to the lycophytes.
Name a fossil lycophyte that was a large tree in the Carboniferous and now makes up a large percentage of coal deposits.
What are the major apomorphies of the lycophytes?
What are the features of a lycophyll (microphyll)? An enation?
How are lycophylls thought to have evolved?
What is homospory? Name the group and family of lycophytes that have this condition.
What is a sporophyll? A strobilus?
Name three diagnostic features of the Lycopodiaceae.
What is a ligule?
Define: endospory, heterospory, megasporangium, megaspore, microsporangium, microspore.
Draw the life cycle of a heterosporous land plant, listing all structures, ploidy levels, and processes.
What group and two included families of lycophytes have ligulate leaves and heterospory?
Describe the basic morphology of members of the Isoetaceae.
Name and define the two types of leaf morphology in Selaginella species.
Name the apomorphies of the euphyllophytes, and list the two major, vascular plant groups included.
How do euphylls differ from lycophylls?
What (paraphyletic) fossil group diverged along the immediate lineage to euphyllophytes?
Describe a widely accepted hypothesis regarding the evolution of the euphyll.
What is a shoot?
What is the name of the region of actively dividing cells in a shoot, and how does this differ among vascular plants?
Define node; internode.
What is the general morphology and function of leaves?
What is a vein?
What are the internal, chlorophyllous cells of a leaf called? Into which two layers may these cells be organized?
What is the definition of a bud and where are they typically located?
What is monopodial growth?
Name the putative apomorphies of the monilophytes, and list the five major groups contained within it.
What is a siphonostele? Name the types of siphonosteles.
What fossil member of the equisetophytes makes up a component of coal deposits?
Name the major apomorphies of the equisetophytes.
What is the only extant genus and family of this group?
What do equisetophytes have as a component of the cell wall?
What is the difference between a scouring rush and a horsetail? Into what two subgenera are these classified?
Describe the morphology of the strobilus (cone), sporangiophore, and sporangia of Equisetum.
What is unique about the spores of Equisetum? What is the function of this novelty?
What features about the roots and gametophytes are presumed apomorphies for the Psilotopsida?
What is a eusporangium?
What is distinctive about the leaves of the Ophioglossales/Ophioglossaceae, the ophioglossoid ferns?
What is a synangium?
What is distinctive (and apomorphic) about the roots, leaves, and sporangia of the Psilotaceae, the whisk ferns?
What are the two genera of the Psilotaceae? What species is a commonly cultivated ornamental?
Name and describe the diagnostic features and a putative apomorphy of the marattioid ferns.
How do the gametophytes, leaf type, and leaf development of the marattioid ferns resemble the leptosporangiate ferns?
What type of sporangium is found in the marattioid ferns?
Name three stem types/habits that occur in the leptosporangiate ferns.
What is circinate vernation? What terms are used for immature fern leaves that exhibit this?
Define frond, stipe, pinna, pinnule.
What aspects of venation and scale morphology are useful in leptosporangiate fern classification?
What is the major apomorphy of the Polypodiopsida? Describe its development and morphology.
Define annulus, sorus, indusium, false indusium, acrostichoid.
Name aspects of sorus morphology, indusium morphology, sporangium development, sporangium morphology, and spore type used in fern classification.
In a fern gametophyte, what is the name of the male gametangium? The female gametangium? What do they look like?
What is unique about the leaf morphology and sporangium annulus of the Osmundaceae?
What is the common name of the Hymenophyllaceae? What is unique about its indusium, receptacle, and leaf anatomy?
Describe the leaf morphology of the Gleicheniaceae.
What is unique about the leaf morphology, sorus, indusium, and sporangium annulus of the Lygodiaceae?
What is distinctive and apomorphic about the life cycle of the Salviniales? What is a sporocarp and what is its function?
Name the two families of the Salviniales and describe how they differ. Name two genera in each family.
How is Azolla of great economic importance?
What is distinctive about the sorus and indusium of the Aspleniaceae?
Name a diagnostic feature of the sorus and indusium of the Dryopteridaceae, Polypodiaceae, and Pteridaceae.